Deputy Coroner Susan Moore-Cooke, huge Gamecock women’s basketball “fam,” seen waving aboard this clever float from the Richland County Coroner’s Office
(each R.I.P. headstone had a score for every post-season game including championship game with Iowa which the Gamecocks won 87-75)
Let’s go, Gamecocks!
hand in hand
we’ll march later for world peace, world hunger, equal justice, democracy —
but today we march for Coach Staleyand her Gamecocks
granddaughters Molly and Ella mesmerized by parade
Nina, ice cream! ICE CREAM!
Spurs Up!
Gamecock Brian and Ella having fun waiting for the next float
Sunday, April 14th. the city of Columbia welcomed thousands of University of South Carolina Gamecock women’s basketball fans to downtown Main Street for a two-hour parade that began at 2:00 o’clock under a bright blue sky and blazing sunshine with 90-degree temperatures to celebrate the third NCAA Championship under head coach Dawn Staley (2017, 2022, 2024). Coach Staley calls her Gamecock fans “Fams” because she has steadily built a culture of loyal followers in the community who have become family to her, her staff and the women’s basketball team during her historic sixteen-year career at South Carolina.
Our little band of “fams” had great seats in the shade thanks to positions staked out by the upstate duo of Pretty’s sister Darlene and Dawne who got up before daybreak Sunday morning to drive two hours, check into their room at the Sheraton and set up chairs on Main Street by 10 a.m. Pretty and I weren’t nearly so punctual but by the time we arrived downtown an hour later after a 15-minute drive from our home in West Columbia, parking places were scarce which added another twenty minutes of walking to meet them.
thanks to Darlene and Dawne (seated) for great spot on Main St
granddaughters Molly (2) and Ella (4) were shy when they arrived at 12:30…
…but soon got into the spirit of the day by playing on Main Street in front of us
Molly and Ella brought their parents Drew and Caroline along
to celebrate perfect 38-0 season on the roadto the NCAA Championship
(Drew still recovering from ACL surgery, but wild crutches couldn’t keep him away)
Did this parade have actual floats, marching bands, marching Girl Scouts, Gamecock women’s basketball players current and alumni, sporty convertibles carrying occupants from politicians to princesses, pretend coffins from the coroner’s office, fire trucks, EMS vehicles, police cars, a Championship Trophy carried by Gamecock star player Kamilla Cardoso who was drafted third in the WNBA draft in New York City the next night, and even the great Coach Dawn Staley herself who stole the show as she always does? You betcha!
Tennis GOAT Serena WilliamsatUS Open Tournament in 2013
Occasionally Pretty sends me an unforgettable image from her Twitter Scrolls – this one made my visual week highlights – three of my favorite Black women in sports.
Good start to Celebration Sunday with National Championship Parade this afternoon! Go, Gamecocks!
Our family road trips following the Texas years have been far and few between as my cousin Martin used to say, but March Madness brings the passions that are often an impetus for wild yearnings to be a part of something bigger than our living rooms. Before you could say Go Gamecocks, Carl and I were passengers in our Grannymobile being driven by Pretty to watch our Gamecock women’s basketball team play in the Sweet Sixteen in Albany, New York, a mere 853 miles from our home in West Columbia, South Carolina.
We were welcomed by North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York on our trip – but Virginia’s Blue Star Memorial Highway pet rest area was Carl’s personal favorite. Pretty and I oohed and aahed over the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in Virginia between the Blue Ridge mountains to the east and the Alleghenies to the west while Carl slept in the back seat. He missed breathtaking vistas during that 140-mile portion of the trip but didn’t seem bothered when he woke up in West Virginia.
Gamecock mascot Cocky cheers with fans at team send-off in their Albany hotel on Game Day, Baby!
Associate Head Coach Lisa Boyer and me in hotel lobby
(hm. I possibly had cocktail before this picture was taken)
Head Coach Dawn Staley leads team through hotel lobby to bus
basketball buddy Brian, me and Pretty in MVP Arena on Game Day
basketball buddy Robert with new Gamecock friends we met at game
Brian, Robert, me and Pretty thrilled as Gamecock women wins in Albany send them to 2024 Final Four!
Consider the 2023-24 South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team which at the end of the regular season + the SEC tournament + the first two games of the 2024 NCAA women’s basketball tournament + the Sweet Sixteen + the Elite Eight = the only undefeated team on the road to Cleveland, Ohio, for the Final Four. Go Gamecocks!
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We’ll be watching March Madness this weekend at home from our living room – still trying to catch our breaths from road trip – catching up with laundry, too.
(Thanks to Robert, Brian, and Pretty for photos used today.)
Penny is the newest addition to our good friend Susan’s farm in Elgin – Susan loves her Gamecock women’s basketball team almost as much as she loves Penny.
Here’s to new life in the spring, renewed hope in a future that includes another national title for Coach Staley and her Gamecock women in the NCAA tournament starting today in Columbia!
I'll Call It Like I See It 
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